Category Archives: Literature

Posts about books and short stories. Usually things I have read recently.

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of The Year Vol. 6

Posted on 2012-06-07 by pappp

As happens every year around this time, I just finished this year’s edition of the Jonathan Strahan edited The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year collection. As in previous years I’ll mention the high points. Where last year … Continue reading →

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Ready Player One

Posted on 2011-10-10 by pappp

Plans for the evening: Write some code I don’t really care for. Actual activity for the evening: Binge the latter half of Ernest Cline‘s Ready Player One. As literature, it isn’t exactly stunning – the writing is standard mass market … Continue reading →

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Quote Widget

Posted on 2011-08-15 by pappp

I has a quotes widget. Hopefully appearing over there -> in the right side bar. It’s picking from a selection which has been growing on my primary machine for years — I’ve been meaning to put a copy online since … Continue reading →

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Just read.

Posted on 2011-07-30 by pappp

I just snapped out of one of those particularly idyllic afternoons, when I finished the remainder of this year’s Jonathan Strahan edited “The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year” after I put it down a couple months ago … Continue reading →

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Millennium Trilogy

Posted on 2011-02-21 by pappp

I’ve been reading Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy in the evenings for the past few days, and completely understand the excitement they generated – the writing is EXCELLENT, with voices so distinct that the many unmarked jumps in the narrative are … Continue reading →

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Zero History

Posted on 2010-09-27 by pappp

(This should be spoiler free) I just finished reading Zero History, slowly, both because I don’t have much time to do so, and because I was savoring it. That kind of writing is the closest thing to a religious experence … Continue reading →

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2009 Nebula Awards

Posted on 2010-05-17 by pappp

I just saw that the 2009 Nebula Award winners were announced while I was travelling, and the few I know are interesting choices. I’ve also read a few of the runners up in the Short Story/Novella/Novelette sections, which I remember … Continue reading →

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On Intelligence

Posted on 2010-03-25 by pappp

I recently finished On Intelligence, a book on the underlying mechanism of cognition by Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee. I very highly recommend it to anyone interested in brains and cognition, it is a very accessible read, with excellent content. … Continue reading →

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What the Dog Saw

Posted on 2010-01-10 by pappp

I went on a binge a while ago and read all of Malcolm Gladwell’s books available at the time. They’re all pop-science pieces on sociological/psychological matters, with really spectacular breadth and readability. The only big downside is that they tend … Continue reading →

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Nabokov Explains Retro

Posted on 2009-12-11 by pappp

I’ve been working thorugh The Stories of Vladmir Nabokov for a while “in my copious spare time”(which has become something of a catchprhase in my department), and it is expectedly excellent. One particular passage is prominent enough to perscribe posting: … Continue reading →

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